Dear OFI Members and Friends, As I review my first year with OFI, I reflect on our many accomplishments and the challenges that still face us. We have worked steadily to build the organization’s capacity both in the Los Angeles office and in the field. This was made possible by your generous support and funding from our Chapters and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). A year ago we moved our office to [...]

According to our current knowledge, the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) was the first great-ape species to split off from the evolutionary tree that led to modern humans. This happened about 14 million years ago (Goodman, 1999). In searching for the origins of human cognition and human language it is therefore imperative to gain knowledge about the cognitive and communicative abilities of this species. This includes the study of the intentional use of communicative signals like gestures [...]

When I arrived in Pangkalan Bun, Kalimantan Tengah at the beginning of June 2004 to begin the implementation of our GIS program, our USAID Project Manager, Pak Zaqie, shared some very disturbing news with me. For the first time, a long road had been plowed in Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP) and the palm oil plantation company, whose plants already bordered the park, was planning on further expanding into park land. We were pretty confident [...]